I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse!

Well well well, look has made another offer. And look has decided to "enthusiastically support" this offer? Yes it's EIG founding chairman Cal Nichols who is now behind the offer. How things change hmmm? BofA got the news up already so check it out.

So the offer is more money obviously and $100 million towards a new downtown arena. Oh and Cal gets to remain involved as the Oilers representative on the NHL Board of Directors. I see now why he's behind this new offer so enthusiastically!

Anyways, this is good news for our Oilers. One owner compared to 30. I always believed the time was past for the EIG. They stepped up in the late 1990s when this team was on the verge of being bought and moved. It was a wonderful move but it's time to move on.

Let's hope this deal is approved.

All about coveting....

A story at sportsnet has Edmonton offering up Stoll or Torres for Joe Corvo. First, nice physique. I'm assuming the Oilers would throw in a defenseman or two since we have so damn many of them. I'm no expert on Corvo so I'm not sure if this is a good move. I have heard pretty good things about him, but aren't we kind of set for defense? Aren't we in need of forwards (and scoring) more than defensemen?

I know rumors are swirling that Stoll is on the trading block and he might just need a fresh start somewhere else. But I still think he has game and I'd prefer to get rid of Torres. Raffi is just all kinds of useless and his inconsistency is too much. He needs to go away, far far far away!

Anyways, Stoll/Torres plus a defenseman must be the deal. Who would go? Gilbert, Souray and Pitkanen are locks to stay. There is no way they'd be traded. That leaves Staios, Tarnstrom, Greene, Grebeshkov, Roy and Rourke. I'm putting Smid on the non-tradeable list. I like the way he's been playing of late, especially his physical play. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Staios. But will this deal happen? I'd bet no.

Oilers will visit Dallas tomorrow night, following an apparently lackluster game against St. Louis. I gave my season ticket to a friend and she was not impressed with the boys. Let's hope they can turn things around. Getting Stoll and Torres back in the lineup after sitting out should help. I'm hoping their time in the pressbox motivates them to work a bit harder and get some chances.

GO OILERS!

Have a Seat Boys...

Best friends Jarret Stoll and Raffi Torres will be enjoying a night off tonight. Yes they will get to suit up, not on the ice, but in the pressbox. They can have some popcorn and beer, enjoy the game. Wait, sitting out is bad. Oops, my bad. So while they get to sit in the box mainly due to their gaffes from Wednesday's night game against the Crosby Crobsies, the other gaffe (Stortini) is playing tonight.

Liam Reddox gets the call tonight along with Patrick Thoresen to replace.....shit wait. Stortini is playing while Stoll and Torres sit out? There are all kinds of bad in that sentence. Yes Stoll and Torres have been sucking ass like it's going out of style but to have them sit and not Stortini?? If you're handing out punishments for bad play against Pittsburgh, you should include Zach along with the best buds.

Anyways, St. Louis is in town tonight to take on our Stoll/Torres-less boys. We get their backup goalie so you know what that means, we lose. Nah, I think they're going to bounce back. Garon is in net so we have some good news. Oilers win 4-1.

GOILERS!!

The Hype

Yes, Sid the Whiny Kid is in town. With all the freakin' hype surrounding this, you'd think he was the greatest hockey player ever. Sorry to tell you, he is not. Nor will he ever be. He's not even the best player this year. That goes to Lecavalier.

So shall we take bets on how many times Sid gets shot tonight? Or shall I say how many times he falls to the ice as if he's been shot? I'll venture a guess: 4 times. Also, how many times will Sid get stabbed tonight? I should also clarify that as well; how many times will Sid fall to the ice as if he's been stabbed? I'll go with 3 times. Be careful with our little china doll.....he's very precious and you don't dare touch him without him collapsing to the ice in pain. Yes, it's phantom pain folks.

Anyways, I couldn't care less to see him tonight. I admit he is a very good player but his constant diving rubs me the wrong way. I despise players who act like that. Plus all the bloody hype surrounding this is nuts. I'm not overly excited to see him.

The Oilers are coming off their first three game winning streak of the year. Can they make it 4? I think they have an excellent chance. Both goalies seem to be finding their stride and are playing damn good! Also, Pisani returns and makes his home debut for the Oilers. He will get a huge ovation tonight. I'll be there to scream loud for his return! It's been really great seeing him back! Oilers missed his defensiveness.

Other news: TSN is reporting that Jarrett Stoll is on the trading block. Is that the case or another unsubstantiated rumor from TSN? We shall soon see. Even though he is struggling this year, I'd hate to see him go. Can they get anything good in return??

Prediction: 5-2 Oilers with goals from Pisani, Horcoff, Stoll and Hemsky (2). Oilers will finally make it to .500 tonight and on the road to a winning record.

Thor's Revenge

Patrick Thoresen, after toiling in the minors for two months, has finally been recalled to the Oilers!!! He's put up some fine numbers down there and it's going to be nice to see him back in the line-up. The bad news is that Hemsky is out with a knee contusion but so far it's only day-to-day so we should see him back on Wednesday vs Pittsburgh when Sid the Whiny Kid comes to town (uh-oh, website has Hemmer out indefinitely).

Today the Oilers will be in Anaheim. Wait, didn't we just play them and beat them into submission? Oh yes, the NHL likes to force teams into being rivals so the idea of back-to-back games makes that happen. Sure whatever Bettman. At least they have finally realized their error and the schedule is going back to normal. All teams will play each other at least once. I actually don't like this idea. I want every team to play each other home and away. I have an even better, although slightly, radical idea. How about every team plays the same teams? Yes do away with divisional and conference games. The Oilers would play the same number of games against certain teams as would the Boston Bruins, and so on. That would make it fair. No more teams padding their wins from their weak division. I know this would never fly but damn I think it would be exciting. Keep the conferences the same but have each team play the exact same schedule of teams. Yes, I'm all about the fairness.

Okay that was an unattainable dream. Back to tonight's game, Oilers vs the Duckies! Our sweet Hemsky is probably not playing but Thor draws back in! We drove Giguere from the net on Friday, let's do it again! My prediction: Oilers win 5-2 with Cogliano, Thoresen, Stoll and 2 from Horcoff.

UPDATE: Pisani returns tonight!!!!!!

Three Million Dollar Man??

So Sportsnet is reporting a story from the Edmonton Journal today concerning Tom Gilbert and how he could possibly command up to $3 million next year and the Oilers cannot possibly afford him. He's hasn't even played 40 games yet. Yes he's been very solid and smart in his inexperience but let's be serious. First of all, this kid is not going to get over $3 million. He won't be getting $2 million. He'll get closer to Matt Greene money I think or slightly more. The Oil can afford that. The real concern with defensemen is Joni Pitkanen. He's the restricted free-agent I think the Oilers are a helleva lot more worried about. Good job by the Journal and Matheson to stay on top of the story.

And last night's game verses the Avalanche....it was the WORST 40 minutes (periods 1&2) of hockey I have ever seen the Oilers play. This is not an exaggeration. I have never seen them play that dreadful before. NEVER!!! This team doesn't have the talent of other teams but at least compete. Where is your pride? Anaheim comes to town tomorrow, they'd better pull their heads out of their asses before!!

Ninety Years Young!

Today the National Hockey League was officially founded with the following teams: Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Sentators, Toronto Arenas and the Quebec Bulldogs. Frank Calder was elected as the league's first President and would serve until his death in 1943.

I highly recommend checking out the timeline of the NHL. The back and forth of teams coming in and out of the league is interesting. My favorite part: "Back on Jan. 9, 1918: The NHL announced a new rule permitting goaltenders to leave their feel while making a save. Previously a penalty was called if a netminder sat or lay on the ice to stop the puck." I love this. Can you imagine if goalies couldn't flop on the ice? No career for Hasek.

Anyways, I've been a bad blogger. So what's new the Oilers? Good news is they are not in last place. That belongs to Washington. Bad news, we're only 2 points out of the basement. More good news: we're within 3 points of 7 teams. Bad news: we're 7 points out of a playoff spot. Good news: it's only the end of November. Bad news: we're down another defenseman due to a concussion to Dicky. Good news: Pisani is a couple weeks away from returning. Bad news: Moreau and Souray are not.

So does the good outweigh the bad? I have no clue but it's been an up and down season thus far. Oilers have 6 of 9 wins from shootouts including another one on Saturday against Chicago. It's been a struggle for each and every win but the Oilers are dominating the shootout. Gagner, Hemsky and Horcoff have been spectacular. Also, Pitkanen has been fantastic since his return. In particular, he was jumping into the rush big time on Saturday verses Chicago. It was nice to see him so natural as a rushing defenseman. I hope we see more of this.

Another game tonight: Oilers vs Columbus. I'm going out on a limb and say the Oilers win this in regulation. I know, a dangerous call but I'm going with a nice comfortable win. 4-1 with goals by Cogs, Gags, Hemmer and Horcoff.

To count or not to count.....

I'm confused. I always thought if a player was put on the IR, his salary did not count towards the cap. Sure you're still paying him somehow but his salary is not counted. Pisani is on the Long term injury reserve. I must be wrong or don't understand the CBA.

From the Edm Journal:

CAVALRY'S NOT COMING

The Oilers decided not to bring in another forward -- probably Patrick Thoresen -- when they sent Marc Pouliot to Springfield, which means they only have 12 healthy forwards to go with six defencemen and two goalies. That's the bare minimum to field a lineup -- 20 guys. It's economics, because the Oilers have more than $48 million on their salary cap.
"We don't want to use it up," said GM Kevin Lowe. "We have some room, but not that much because Fernie (Fernando Pisani) is still on the cap. We just can't have excess players around. It's not like we're down around, say, $42 million or $43 million."

This is on the NHL's website:

A Club's payroll will include all salaries, signing bonuses and performance bonuses paid to players. Except in the case of bona fide long-term injury (injuries that sideline a player for a minimum of 24 days and 10 games) to one or more of a club's players

I really don't feel like reading the bloody CBA so if someone can explain it to me, I'd love that. Why they would still have Pisani's salary counting towards the cap is odd (how about Moreau, he's on the injury reserve, I'm assuming his salary is counting too)?

Anyways, the Oilers are sucking it up lately giving up 4 powerplay goals last night against the evil Wild. Only one thing to say: we're rebuilding!!!

Also, an interesting story on Penner coming to training camp out of shape. Almost two months later, he's still out of shape. Come on boy, get on the bike!!!


Update: Mike at Covered in Oil explained this over there: Technically, players with long-term injuries still count against the cap.But the team is then allowed to go over the cap limit to the cost of their salary (so $50.3 million plus Pisani's $2.5 million). Basically, the Oilers are allowed to go over the cap but they're just too damn cheap to do so. Thanks EIG...we're down numerous defensemen and a couple key gritty forwards, but let's not spend any more money. Good call.

Game Day: Oilers vs Wings

So Dicky has sat out a couple games, what does that mean? His days as an Oiler might be numbered according to sportsnet. With Souray and Pitkanen eventually returning this month, someone is out. The Oilers website has Tarnstrom drawing into tonight's game, paired with Smid, along with Pouliot. Roli gets the start but Garon will get one very soon, according to MacT. With Hasek and his creaky hip out, Osgood starts. Whoa, is this 1998 or what? Anyways, following a great shootout win on Sunday against the Ducks, who are just as sucky as we are this year, this could be the turning point for the Oilers. It'd be nice to see them get on a roll and win two games again.

I'm watching TSN right now and they're saying that it'll be the job of Gilbert and Grebeshkov to shut down Zetterberg's line, the number one line in hockey. Can I just say.....WHAT? Gilbert, yes good idea but Grebeshkov? That boy is redefining the word chaos!!

Anyways, I'm looking for a victory tonight as Cogliano, Gagner and Hemsky are freakin' flying. Did you see Cogs short-handed goal? How about the shootout goal by Gagner? Fantastic. This team is fun to watch. They may let you down defensively but bloody hell, they are exciting at times!!

Oilers win 4-1.

He Hath Returned

Okay, I won't dredge up the past and go into details about the whole fiasco that surrounded Smyth and Lowe last year. I will say this: no one person deserves the entire blame for what happened. I truly believe they were both negotiating in good faith, thought it would get done and all would be right with the world. Anyways, they both cocked it up. The end.

So the Mullett returns to Edmonton tonight. Am I boo'ing? I have not decided. I will wear my Smyth jersey for the first time since he was traded. I refused to wear it and even went out this summer and bought two vintage jersey's before those new crappy ones came out. So I am a Fuhr and Messier girl now. But I will pull out the 94 one last time. I hope the Oilers will be classy and do up a pre-game appreciation for Smyth like they did for Smith. I will cheer for that. However, once the puck drops, he's the opposition and I sure won't be cheering for him. Boo'ing him? I'm not sure.

So how badly do the Oilers lose tonight? Man, this will be interesting. Joni Pitkanen is out for a couple weeks so Roy will probably draw in for tonight's game. Maybe our Laddy Smid will get a call-up soon since the Oilers are down a few d-men. I sure hope so. He's a big improvement over most of that defense.

Okay back to the game tonight. I think the Oilers come out hard and strong. This will be their best game since the two opening winning games. I'll be optimistic and say the Oil pull this out 3-2. Hemmer breaks out finally and scores all three.

UPDATE: Very good game even though our boys lost. 2 bad bounces cost the Oilers two goals in the first. One horrible penalty call with 2 mins left cost the boys a comeback. How the refs called a hook on Hemsky is crazy.....when the other guy had grabbed this stick and was holding it! Idiots.

Pitkanen is now out for 4 weeks instead of two. He's having surgery. When the hell did this happen? I can't find any more info on this injury. They've gotta call up Smid now. Roy actually played decent tonight. Another stinkfest for Greene. No surprise.

Do you??

Well MacT, do you? Do you feel lucky tonight punk? Our favorite blender is coaching his 500th game for the Oilers. Yes the blender is out big time so far this year. How many different line combinations have we seen this year? Too freakin' many to even count. Please MacT, put the blender down and walk slowly away from it. No sudden movements.....

So our boys finally ended their wee little four game losing streak on Thursday against Phoenix. Anyone else not impressed with their performance? They won 4-2 (empty netter) but it was NOT a pretty game. The blender was out in full force and the Oilers seemed to have forgotten who they were playing. It's Phoenix for f**k's sake! Embarrassing performance. Roloson saved your asses from a major humiliation. So where do we go from here? Well Schrempy got a big 3.12 of ice time and then was sent back down to the AHL, with Jacques being recalled again. I know many people on the message boards have a major hard-on for Schremp. I have really no allegiance either way. He might develop into an NHL'er and might not. But how can you even give a guy much of a chance with only 3.12 minutes??? You can't obviously. Don't call him up if you can't give him serious playing time. Let him continue his endless development in the AHL.

So the Oil finish their road trip in Calgary tonight. Calgary hasn't looked all that good this year so far, and are only 2 points ahead of Edmonton. Yes, Mike Keenan has done wonders for this team. I love it. Anyways, Kipper has been struggling and Calgary is beatable. The Oilers stand a chance but they sure need to play better than they did in Phoenix. It was an ugly win. Cogliano and Brodziak were looking good. Keep it up boys!

Prediction: Oilers win 4-2 but a good 4-2 this time!

Separated!

Uh-oh, someone has hurt themselves. That beautiful shoulder of Sheldon's is separated. Oh no. No information on how serious the injury is and how long our excellent powerplay specialist will be out. Wait, he hasn't improved our PP yet. I should not call him that. Our over-paid and ineffective powerplay quarterback is injured. Is that better? Yes I believe it is. Hopefully, I can call him our kickass PP QB someday but not yet.

So the Oilers will be without SS for the next game against Phoenix. Seriously, this is just what the Oil need. A crappy team to kick the crap out of. Now let's hope the trend of the Oilers playing like crap themselves discontinues. This team needs to get back on the winning side and this is just the game for them. Also, Schremp is practicing with Hemmer and Cogs on the first line....could this be any more of a gift for Robbie? Time to man-up.....this is the best opportunity you will ever get. Don't blow it!

Prediction: Oilers 6-1 over Phoenix with the Cogs-Hemmer-Schremp line scoring 5 of the 6 goals. The 6th goal goes to Gagne, his first as an Oiler!

Not the Problem??

With the Oilers' powerplay at an anemic 1 for 25, people are beginning to talk. Dan Barnes from the Edmonton Journal speaks blasphemously or does he??

And you thought it was all Craig Simpson's fault.

The Oilers' power play, and isn't that a classic oxymoron, is fumbling along at a one-for-25 clip through six games. Its sparkling four per cent success rate ranks dead last in the 30-team National Hockey League.

And Simpson is no longer around to sport the goat horns.

So the question is: was Simpson really the problem or not? Now that MacT has 'taken over' reins of the powerplay this year, that question is very interesting. I've always insisted that MacT had his hands all over the powerplay in the past. How else do you explain Toby Peterson, whom enjoyed some man-love from MacT, on the powerplay?? This year, the powerplay has some new participants but strangely, the powerplay is exactly the same. The same plays, the same strategy.....get it to the point for the one-timer.

So maybe it's time to let Simpson off the hook a bit? Not completely because he was still the powerplay coach but maybe it's time to cut him some slack if MacT did in fact hover. One thing: it's early in the season and no time to panic just yet but the powerplay needs to mix it up. You have some serious players on the PP, why not let them be more creative? Another month of PP stinkage?? Then people can panic.

Update on Ethan Moreau: it is a broken bone in the foot like we've all suspected. He's out for at least another couple weeks.

Quick Reaction

Following the loss to Vancouver tonight, the Oilers have sent down Nilsson and Jacques while recalling Schremp and Stortini. I mean, I just got home from the Oilers game and went to check out TSN and voila, there is the info. Hell, it's already on the Oilers website. That's a damn quick reaction. I like it. I like giving Schremp a chance and getting Jacques outta here. Seriously, he had sooooo many chances tonight and cocked them up. Open nets, passes to him in the slot and missing the net or missing the puck altogether. I do not like his game at all right now.

What else to say about tonight's game? Garon was junk. Greene was crap. Torres finally showed up but for brief moments as usual. I have nothing else to say right now. It was a disappointing night. They had great chances early on but no finish!

Four More Years.....

Four more years folks! Yes Kevin Lowe has been given a contract extension for four more years. Honestly, I'm surprised at this announcement. I thought he might have worked his way out of town. With the contentious deals this summer (Vanek and Penner), I was thinking the Oilers would send him packing or at least wait until later in the season to decide his fate. But they give him a new deal in October. If this team is tanking in March, that would have been the opportunity to get rid of him. But he's here to stay.

I've always been a big supporter of Kevin Lowe but the past year has been hard to defend him. I support the Smyth trade, the other Smith trade, but the deal to bring Penner did not sit right with me. I hope he proves us all wrong. However, I truly believe the Oilers need some fresh blood. Kevin has been GM since 2000 and only made the playoffs three times. We're getting into Maple Leaf territory. Since when do we reward our employees when they make the playoffs 3 times in 7 years (okay one year was the lockout)?

I think the Oilers are a nice young team right now, and I like their chances this year and in the future. BUT....Lowe might have ruffled too many feathers and this will only hurt the Oil. Who will trade with this man? Who will sign as a free agent here? While I think Lowe is a great GM at times, it's not enough. Both MacT and Lowe need to move on...but that won't be happening for several years. So fans, we're going to have to live with it!

Today also marks the return of our captain, Jason Smith, to Edmonton. Also returning, Joffrey "disaster" Lupul! I hope Torres runs over Lupul...payback for dogging it last year!!!

2007-2008 Edmonton Oilers Preview

I'm not expecting the 2007-2008 Oilers to win the Stanley Cup this year. I won't predict that since the team is not good enough. However, there are elements of the 'good enough' already on this team. Obviously, there needs to be more of the 'good enough' and we all hope Kevin Lowe evens out the situation. We have obviously too many defensemen and not enough scoring up front. I like the addition of the rookies, giving them the minutes to develop but Kevin Lowe is confusing. Are we rebuilding or going for it all? Gagner in the lineup is a rebuild but the Souray signing is not. Kevin Lowe has confused us and himself. Check out an article in the Edm Journal today where he says, "What happened was, all of a sudden, we got a lot of defencemen...Then, I'm thinking, 'Holy mackerel, we've got a lot of guys here." I'm hoping you were keeping track of all the deals Kevin and just didn't forget how many d-men you had.

So even though the team does not have a clear direction, I still like the make-up of this team. The new additions have fit in easily and things are on the up-swing. So here are the newbies and the goners!

New players: Sheldon "Chaos" Souray, Joni Pitkanen, Dick "Tricky" Tarnstrom, Dustin Penner, Geoff Sanderson, Denis Grebeshkov, Mathieu Garon.

Younglings: Sam Gagner, Andrew Coligano, Kyle Brodziak, Marc Pouliot, JF Jacques, Robert Nilsson.

Gone: Joffrey "atrocious" Lupul, Jason Smith, Petr Sykora, Jan Hedja, Ryan Smyth, MA Bergeron, Jussi Markkanen, Brad Winchester, Toby Peterson, Daniel Tjarnqvist.

So we begin the year with a huge turnover of players. They seem to be meshing well during pre-season so that is a good sign. Gagner has made the team, but will probably get his 9 game try-out before being sent back down to the minors. I think he has an outside chance to stay up, but the man to watch on this team is Coligano! If he can continue the momentum from the pre-season, the Oilers may actually have a player in the mix for the Calder. But really, that isn't important. It's important to get the rookies and young players in the mix, give them some minutes and let them develop. I can take a development year, if it gives the team a better chance the following year. So I say let the rookies play and play often!!!

Hemsky, will this be your breakout year? Will Penner live up to expectations? Will Greene ever be traded or thrown over the train tracks?? I vote for tracks. Hell, I will help tie him down myself. I despise him with every fiber of my being. The fact that he's in the lineup instead of Smid or even Grebeshkov is atrocious. Lowe/MacT refuse to admit they've made a mistake with this player. He's not developing, he's regressing. Time to cut him loose!!!

With several sports publications picking the Oilers to finish 13th, I have to politely disagree and call them retards! This team has solid goaltending, great PK and now a PP but give up defensively 5 on 5. The forwards may not be better than last year (yes we'll miss Smyth and Sykora's goals) but the point is, they will be in a year or two. I'd rather have a good Oilers team two years from now with Hemmer, Cogliano and Gagner, than a mediocre team with Smyth on it now.

I pick the Oilers to be their usual self: fighting for the 8th playoff spot up until the last week of the regular season. If Kevin Lowe fixes the unbalance between defense-offense (aka: trading defense for a top 6 forward), this team makes the playoffs. Otherwise, this team is working towards next year which I am okay with! I

TSN has a story up about the Oilers and this was the practice lines according to TSN:

Forwards
Penner - Horcoff - Hemsky
Torres - Stoll - Nilsson
Jacques - Cogliano - Gagner
Pouliot
Defence
Greene - Souray
Staios - Pitkanen
Tarnstrom - Gilbert
Grebeshkov

GOILERS!!!!

Boo Hoo!

What a freakin' cry baby! He took my candy. Wah wah wah!! I'm not the prettiest girl on the block. Wah wah wah! He's still going on and on about the Penner offer sheet. Quit whining you little girl. The rules allow teams to make offer sheets. What's the problem here? Ooh he offered to much? Ummm GM's overpay players all the time. Why should an offer sheet be any different? Check out the video!

"If I had run my team into the sewer like that I wouldn't throw a grenade at the other 29 teams and my own indirectly," said Burke. "So I have no intention of speaking to him anytime soon."

Quit your endless blabbering. It's not like someone shot your dog. Suck it up loser!

UPDATE: Dany Heatley will remain a Senator. I'm happy he stays with the Sens, the only other team I kinda like and more importantly, Canada keeps one of their own superstars! Nice job Ottawa!!!

Gagner in, Moreau is captain and Smid to the AHL!

Sam Gagner signs an entry-level contract today and looks like he'll be around on opening night. If nothing else, he'll likely get his 9 game try-out and could still be sent down without burning a year on his contract.

Gagner's deal is "a three-year entry level contract. His NHL compensation is the maximum $875,000 per year, which includes an annual signing bonus of $87,500. It is, of course, a two-way contract with a minor league salary provision of $65,000."

Bob Mackenzie also thinks Moreau will be the captain but please, this was a no-brainer decision. I called this weeks ago. It's a great choice and I like it!

Other news has Patrick Thoresen on waivers apparently. I'm a bit surprised about this but with our other young players coming up and playing incredibly well, someone was bound to get shafted. I liked him but his performance during training camp and the pre-season was not strong. I agree to give the kids a shot.

According to TSN: these were the practice lines today (you can obviously scratch Thoresen's name from that list!

Forwards
Penner - Horcoff - Hemsky; Torres - Stoll - Nilsson; Cogliano - Gagner - Pouliot; Sanderson - Reasoner - Brodziak; Jacques - Thoresen - Stortini
Defence
Greene - Souray, Staios - Pitkanen, Tarnstrom - Gilbert, Smid - Grebeshkov

And one piece of nostalgic news: guess who is the new captain of the Philadelphia Flyers? Yes, our former captain Jason Smith! I miss him already!!

UPDATE: Moreau is the man!! He becomes the Oilers 12th Captain!!!! Interesting, assistant captains will be Hemsky and Horcoff for home games, with Staios and Stoll for away games. I like that!

UPDATE: Smid and Stortini get sent to the minors! Holy hell.....I do not understand the decision to demote Smid. He had a decent camp and easily outplayed Greene. Why the hell is Greene still on this bloody team??? Smid is your future. They threw him to the wolves last year, giving a rookie like him way too many minutes and he didn't exactly thrive but didn't perish either. He held his own and now he's thrown down to the AHL. Good news: Gilbert made the team and will be in the season opener.

Back to the Minors!

In my mind, this is the Oilers first cut.

OILERS REDUCE ROSTER TO 35

The Edmonton Oilers have reduced their training camp roster to 35 players with the assignment of nine players to the Springfield Falcons.Assigned to the Oilers’ American Hockey League affiliate are defencemen Sebastien Bisaillon, Danny Syvret and Bryan Young and forwards Troy Bodie (LW), Fredrik Johansson (C), Ryan O’Marra (RW), Liam Reddox (LW), Rob Schremp (C) and Viacheslav Trukhno (LW).

I'm a little surprised they cut Trukhno (and Schremp to a lesser degree) without giving them more playing time. So the centre position is being fought between Cogliano and Gagner. I think Cogs pulls this out, but we'll see how he plays tonight with Hemmer and Penner. I don't think both of them make it. Schremp, another step backwards for him. But everyone needs to remember he had an injury and surgery so of course he's fallen behind. We'll see what he's made of now.

Note: Gagner draws into tonight's game as a last minute addition (instead of Frederik Johansson). Good call because Freddy is not making this team. So Cogs and Gagne play tonight, very interesting! Other things to note in the lineup tonight: Souray and Greene playing together again.

UPDATE: Oilers win Battle of Alberta with Cogliano and Souray scoring and playing very good. Four more players were shipped to the AHL after the game as goalie Devan Dubnyk and forwards Jonas Almtorp, Ben Simon and Tim Sestito were sent down.

How did you cross the border into Canada?

This is floating around, I nabbed this from Always on the Road. Raffi on the Daily Show! Hilarious!!!

The Russians are Coming!!

OILERS WIN 3-2 in OT!!

2 goals from Russians. Yes, the Russians have arrived. Okay, maybe not arrived but they are scoping out the building. Trukhno scored a great goal and Grebeshkov gets the OT winner. I'm just happy to have some Russians back on this team!

One day after putting in a truly horrible performance, Matt Greene does it again. Bad penalties, out of position and on and on and on. Can I just say one last time: GET RID OF HIM!!! But on a better note, one day after a horrible performance, Grebeshkov bounces back and has a good game. He still made some mistakes but he cut down on them at least, and scored the OT winner. More on the winning goal later!

Some musings about tonight's game:

-apparently Carter received a concussion. I did not see the hit but noticed he was absent for 2/3rds of the game
-Pouliot took a nasty high stick in the first but came back for the third period. He was stitched up like those old hockey masks. Well, he wasn't much to look at before. Now he has character. He even played pretty good in the third.
-Horcoff, Stoll and Torres looked okay. I don't want to get on him but Torres seemed like his old self: good chances, but cocks up the shot. Horcoff was best man on the ice. Period!
-Nilsson had great speed and some chances. I was slightly impressed.
-Trukhno has got some skill. I like him a lot! He was even on the point for the powerplay and doing pretty good. Probably doesn't make this team quite yet but he has a future!
-Guess who impressed me too (second most): Sanderson. Yeah that dude who used to play for the Whalers. I kept noticing #8 all over the ice: speed, passes, good hockey sense. I forgot he was on the team and then I was voila, oh my god, it's him.
-Man of the night: Cogliano. This kid is ffffffffast. Great speed, passing, everything BUT the finish. He set up the overtime winner.....flying into the zone. Wow what speed. He just needs his hands to catch up to the rest of him!

One final note: I hate Leaves' fans. Way too freakin' many at this game. My hatred of them is only eclipsed by my hatred of Flamers fans!

One final final note: NHL is finally smarting up somewhat and getting rid of this rediculous and unbalanced schedule next year! What is not decided is whether everyone plays each other home and away or just once a year. I'm hoping for home/away series because I want to see every team each year especially the Canadian teams.

He's not just a pretty face anymore...

Welcome Kyle Brodziak to the Edmonton Oilers. After the performance he gave last night, I'd be shocked if this kid doesn't make the team. The line of Moreau-Reasoner-Brodziak was on fire last night. Brodziak with 2 goals and 1 assist, Marty with 3 assists and Moreau with one sweeeeet goal.

Here are my other musings on the night:

-Brodziak played great with Moreau and Reasoner.

-Gagner was not bad. Got pushed off the puck quite often early, but bounced back later in the game

-Penner is one big guy. I shall refer to him as the lumberjack from now on.

-Hemmer was his old self: beautiful moves but then passes

-Roli rocked the net. He was rocked in the first period and held off the troops! 1 goal out of 18 shots....nice work Roli !!

-Defense was horrible: Grebeshkov couldn't check to save his life. He gives up a 2 on 1 within ten seconds into the second period, right off the faceoff. How did that happen? He was out of position all night.

-Greene continued his sucking

-Gilbert played solid as did Pitkanen. Nothing spectacular from either.
-powerplay was same as usual: pass, pass, pass and shot that misses the net

-O'Marra was trying too hard

-Jacques was invisible for first part of game, and then had some solid hits and chances

-Thoresen throwing the body too.

Obviously this is only one pre-season game, but Brodziak looks like the real deal. On one goal he scored, he out-muscled three guys and went top shelf. It was a beauty! I'm looking forward to the next game tonight and see what the rest of the rookies look like, and our other vets!!

Coming Home?

Well, look who's been invited to the Oilers' training camp as an NHL pro try-out? Yes, former Oiler Anson Carter. A bit shocking is it not? Basically, he is a guy without a team. A man wandering in the desert, please sign me....someone sign me. Well Anson, let's see how you stack up against our endless stream of rookies and prospects. Good luck!

Update: Oilers officially unveil new jersey today. Yeah not good at all. Good point by Weaz....it could be a lot of worse. Hello Vancouver! But seriously, does the NHL not give a damn what fans like? You're alienating people and just pissing off the rest of us.

On the upside, the Joey Moss Cup went today and the Hemsky-Penner-Gagner line was clicking. Hemmer had a 5 pt game with a hat trick while the others also had four points. Nice to see. I still think Gagner does not make this team. I think he should (if he plays like today) but the Oilers have always been tentative and not aggressive when it comes to pushing their rookies. That can be good but can also be bad. I'll be at the pre-season game tomorrow so we'll see who plays and how much. It'll be nice to see the boys again! It was a long summer!

Update: I am soooooooooooooooo excited. Less than 5 hours until the pre-season starts. Is it sad that we're all going orgasmic over the pre-season? Hey, over 4 months of no hockey....we deserve some good orgasmic moments and hopefully this lasts longer than a commercial break! :)

Disturbing Content Warning!

BEWARE FOLKS......GRAPHIC AND HORRIFYING MATERIAL IS BELOW.

Yes it's the new Oilers jersey. One word: UGLY!!!

This link came from the Covered in Oil people and if this is truly legit, holy hell they are ugly. I mean, where is the rest of the jersey. I swear this looks like some 12 yr old kid made these up. Yeah he's jerking off in his basement, has nothing else to do so he decides to re-create the Oilers jersey. So this pimply-faced masturbator cocks this up and voila, we get this mess. It's nice to see a bit of orange back on the jersey but what's with the rest of it??? Maybe this isn't the new jersey.....can this be possibly wrong? Anyone?? Please!!!

I apologize for the disturbing photo below. You've been warned!

It's Starting Already.....

Well well well, check out the bad news concerning Pisani. He's out indefinitely with ulcerative colitis. This is not good, for Pisani or the Oilers. I hope he's not out too long!!

Those hockey gods are sure mad at the Oilers. Seriously, what did they do?????

Delirious in Edmonton

Something to keep your spirits up as training camp opens later this month. Remember back in September 2005, no one expected the Oilers to either make the playoffs nor make it all the way to the final. Obviously, the 2007 team is not as talented as 2005 BUT if they can come together like that again, anything is possible. I mean, Pisani was a scoring machine in those playoffs so seriously, anything can happen! I'll do up my preview of the season soon and my prediction won't have the Oilers finishing 13th like most sports magazines are predicting.

Dreams Do Come True!!

Everyone's favorite powerplay coach is apparently leaving the Oilers, according to the Globe and Mail. Let the drinking begin! With Bob Cole and Harry Neale starting to cut back on their workload, CBC was desperate to find some young talent. Okay, 40 is not young but sitting next to Cole and Neale, hell Simpson is a teenager.

While Craig sucked royally as a coach, I always enjoyed his commentary during his Sportsnet years or as I call it the glorious pre-Oilers coaching years. I like this move for many reason, especially getting him out of the Oilers powerplay! Enjoy getting back into broadcasting Craig....I wish you nothing but success (of course so you can't come back as an Oilers coach, lol).

Three cheers for CBC!!!!!! Hooray....Hooray....Hooray!!!

All Hail our Fearless Leader....

I go away to Ireland for three weeks and when I get back, look what our boy Kevin has been up to: offer sheet to Dustin Penner of the Mighty Ducks. So after checking all the blogs, reading all the articles I could find, I am all info'd up and ready to offer my extremely educated opinion!

5 years at $4.25 mill per year is the offer. He scored 29 goals last year with 45 points. That was his first year in the NHL. He is 24 years old.

My first thought of the offer sheet: please match it. I do not like this at all. His point production is decent for his first NHL season (he played 19 games the year before but in essence, this was his rookie year) but he's 24. He's a late bloomer and this could be a one hit wonder. Second, some of the reviews mention that he is a poor skater. So putting him on a line with Hemsky and Horcoff could crash and burn. On the other hand, apparently he scored more points than anyone else with his limited ice time average of 13 mins. That's a plus, as is his size (6'4 and 245 pds). However, to throw this much money at a rookie is dangerous. I liked the Vanek offer sheet better simply because I thought he was a better player and had a good chance of having a long NHL career. This is such a gamble. Also, this is not the winger I had in mind to play with Hemsky. I can't see this being a success.

Obviously the Ducks didn't match. It was a no brainer: take the three draft picks (1st, 2nd and 3rd rounder) and let Penner go. Brian Burke had a hissy-fit. These are some of the quotes from the past week:

"I thought Kevin would have told me this was coming. I thought that was gutless"

"An act of desperation by a general manager fighting to keep his job"

"My issue here is that this is the second time Edmonton has offered a player a grossly inflated salary for a player and it impacts all 30 teams"

"We're going to take the three draft picks and given Kevin's recent performance, I expect them to be excellent picks"

Burkie, quit your whining. That last quote hits us all: low blow. Yes one bad year that of course was Kevin Lowe's fault entirely. Really bad recent performances. Stanley Cup final one year and missing the playoffs the next year. Sure Burkie, really bad! If you didn't want an offer sheet to be tended, you would have locked up your player or at least took him to arbitration. You left it wide open for someone to make an offer. Yes I feel the amount is too much, but you knew there was a chance for offers. GM's overpay all the time (I'm looking at your Bertuzzi signing of $4 mill a few weeks ago Burkie) so this is not new. This is a business and Lowe had no reason to call and let you know. I thought you were also going to match all offers?? You would have told Lowe that I'm sure if he had warned you but you didn't match. Take your draft picks and shut up.

Now Kevin....what are you doing? I keep defending you, deal after deal, believing that you know what you are doing, that you are improving this team but you're pushing it. I know the options out there are limited for you, but the deals of Souray and Penner are panic-inducing. I was prepared to wait while you rebuilt this team, but you're abandoning the plan. You can't switch back and forth. You need to stay the path, if it was indeed a rebuilding plan. The team has been improved since April, yes that is true. There has been so many changes in the past year, this team could take some time coming together. The season could be over by the time that occurs.

New players: Pitkanen, Souray, Tarnstrom, Penner, Garon, Sanderson, Nilsson
Gone players: Lupul, Smyth, Smith, Sykora, Markkanen, Tjarnvist, Peterson, Winchester, Hedja

One last thing: Katz made another offer to the Oilers. I keep hoping this gets the approval from the EIG. Please accept this offer. I think it would be beneficial to the Oilers to have a change in ownership. 30 owners or 1 owner? 30 local business or 1 billionaire? It's a no-brainer folks. Now Katz has been saying all the right things lately, but I truly believe he means them. Why else buy a team? Of course you want to make money but he does that anyways. He wants to bring the glory days back to the team. He's committed to possibly financing a new arena (which I've been on board since the beginning. I sit in those seats for all home games and damn right I want a new arena. It's needed). Here is a snip from Katz (basically what I've been saying for some time....time to move on):

"I have a lot of respect for Cal Nichols and the Edmonton Investor Group," Katz said in his statement. "They did a great thing when they came together to buy the team and keep it in Edmonton."As an Edmontonian and as a fan, I'm grateful for everything they've done. As an owner, should that come to pass, I intend to ensure their contribution is recognized and remembered. At the same time, I know there are a number of people within the ownership group who would like to exit their investment and pass the torch to a new generation of leadership. I want to provide that leadership while preserving the great Oiler traditions and maintaining a strong sense of community."

So the vote takes place Tuesday, August 7th. The offer is $170 million. It's over 20 million higher than his original offer months ago to the board. This time it's to the shareholders. This would be a great move. The EIG is no longer effective. They seem to interfer in day-to-day operations. We can't be sure the extent of this interference but they obviously handicap Lowe last year at times, refusing to spend money. Katz seems like a guy who would spend but not spend like crazy (hello NYI).

Even if the EIG turns him down, it probably is not his final offer according to Barnes. I'm hoping when he says, "Katz will eventually offer enough to earn the necessary two-thirds majority and EIG will take a well-deserved bow, and then a vacation" that he knows what he's talking about. We'll find out soon.

UPDATE: EIG are stupid.

UPDATE: EIG are still stupid and Bettman has his hands all over this too. He told Nichols that it was not good to have one owner and it would be problematic. When is Bettman going to start doing what's good for the league? He's an idiot, along with the EIG!!

Oops, he's done it again....

Yup folks, Katz is offering to buy the Oilers again. Although this time, he's shooting for the pie, not a piece. I am majorly in favor of this, and hope the EIG takes the offer. In my mind, one owner is better than 30. This guy has the money, has the profile, has the business sense to take this team and make it not only profitable (which it has become recently. Did it make money last year...does anyone know? The previous year it obviously did owing to the huge playoff run) but also successful.

I'm heading out of town today for three weeks. I probably won't be hearing too much hockey news in England or Ireland, but I hope to return to new ownership!!!!!

Reversal of Fortune

Guess who is an Edmonton Oiler?? Yes this guy, Sheldon Souray. I don't know details of the contract yet, but this is a surprising signing. Wikipedia has info on the contract already but not sure if it's accurate (they say it's a 5 year deal 27 million which averages to $5.4 mill). So what do we think? Yes, we might actually have a successful powerplay this year. Although, we give up something even strength.

Some facts on Souray:

- 19 of 26 goals came on the powerplay last year, so he is almost one-dimensional in his scoring
- plus/minus last year was -28 (damn, Lupul had a -29)
- he'll win the next Hot Off easily

So is the bad outweighed by the good? Also, how was this guy not signed sooner? Is it his even strength play that kept some teams on the sidelines?

So our defense is set. It's a complete reversal from last year. Now we'll watch Kevin Lowe wait until February to fix our offense.

Update: Is Patrick LaForge an idiot? Here are some of his comments on Primetime Sports today (sportsnet):

- Edmonton is not a great city. It's a fine city
- You need to budget for snow tires
- We wouldn't want another franchise in our background (in reference to the Hamilton issue and more Canadian NHL teams)

And many more gems of wisdom from him. And basically the dude on the show kept asking about the Hamilton issue and nothing much about the Oilers themselves. Nice to see Toronto being Toronto: self-centered!!! Also, the Canadian teams don't want to share their television contract with another Canadian team: Laforge basically admitted that. Good one!

AND, we now have two replacements for the number 44: Souray and Pitkanen. Who gets the number?

AND a nice quote from Souray:

"If no one else wants to be associated with the organization, believe me, there's one guy here who does."

Making Waves!!

The Oilers have made one helleva splash....offer sheet for Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres. It's a 7 year, $50 million offer for Vanek who scored 43 goals last year (and 84 points).

The Oilers would have to give up FOUR first round draft picks. Damn, that's crazy but to get this guy, maybe not so crazy after all?? But how can Buffalo not match this offer? They lost Drury and Briere to free agency. They must have a huge amount of space to accomondate this contract. I'd be surprised if Buffalo doesn't match. But I like this move....aggressive and he's going after the right player. Good move.

Update: Never mind. Buffalo has matched the offer. Next time Kevin, go after a team that is in cap trouble.

From the Edm Journal:

"You can't blame the blame player, you can't blame the agent," said managing partner Larry Quinn. "It's not doing the Edmonton Oilers any good to do what they did today. It's not the New York Rangers, the Philadelphia Flyers, preying on Buffalo. It's the Edmonton Oilers."

Yes cause this is the same as Philly's offer sheet to Kessler. No, it's not. Kessler was highballed, but Vanek was not. The rules are in place to make offers on restricted free agents. When a team cannot sign free agents, what else are they supposed to do? This is not wrong. It was not preying. The Oilers made a good move, but it didn't work out.

Update: A good bit from the Big Dude at Sportsnet who defended KLowe's move perfectly:

Spurned by free agents in search of a beach, and Michael Nylander in search of a backbone, K-Lowe was forced onto a road less traveled. It's his job as a general manager to do whatever it takes to build a competitive hockey team, and what Lowe did Friday is show that he's not afraid to go in the corners and get the puck to make something happen in order to win hockey games.

I Pity the Fool....

Yes I actually am pitying Kevin Lowe now following this. However, the rest of the Oilogosphere is hitting him hard. Is it his fault this team can't attract free agents? Maybe but lately it seems to be the reputation of Edmonton that is distracting players (thanks Pronger). Oh the travel sucks, oooh the winter sucks. Not really. I chose to live here over anywhere in Canada. Hell, I wouldn't step foot in the United States. No offence to Americans, but that is not exactly the ideal place to live. Kevin Lowe can't be blamed for all this, not entirely.

Lowe needs to dangle Ales Hemsky in front of these elite free agents. He has to say, hey look how good this kid was when playing with B+ players (sorry, Smyth is not an elite player. In addition, he's not the ideal linemate for a player with Hemmer's skill. Smitty stands in front of the net....that's all. He's not a strong skater, doesn't have a big shot and I don't care what kind of intangibles he brings). Hemmer has the potential to be a superstar, he needs to find better linemates (and of course shoot more often). Hemmer is the team now. There must be someone out there licking their chops to play on a line with him. Come on!!!

However, even though I pity Lowe and don't blame this entire fiasco on him (hello EIG, we know you play a part in all of this, people forget they hold the purse), I think it's time he moved on and took the entire coaching staff with him. Aside from a three month period, Lowe's tenure has not been successful in years. April to June 2006 notwithstanding, this team has struggled endlessly. I think Lowe is a great GM but he's hit the wall. It's time to bring in new blood....no more former Oilers. I adore the fact this team is linked to the past, but it's time to try something new.

Slippery Bugger

So early Monday or late Sunday, it was being reported that the Oilers had signed Michael Nylander. Later that day, it was announced that the Washington Capitals had signed him for $19.5-million, four-years. So what happened?

According to the Edm Sun,

Despite rumours and an erroneous radio report and the allegedly waiting all day for returned paperwork, Michael Nylander did not become an Edmonton Oiler yesterday.

So upset at whatever transpired when the Washington Capitals announced they'd signed the free agent to a four year deal yesterday afternoon, Edmonton Oilers GM Kevin Lowe was said to be so livid he refused to talk about it, even to a Sun Media reporter parked outside the team officies for two hours.

So what happened? Nylander was probably playing the Oilers off against the Capitals, trying to get a better deal. It looks like Lowe thought this was a done deal until the Caps announced the signing. Seems pretty underhanded by Nylander at least and maybe even the Caps. I'd like to know exactly what happened here.

Update: Oilers statement regarding this whole mess is below. It looks like they have been wronged big time here. I'm no legal expert, but if the agent wrote a letter of agreement, would that be binding and his subsequent contract with Washington null and void? Probably not, because the agent signed something, I would think the NHL must have rules in place for this.

The Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club is compelled to clarify the unfortunate and unprecedented circumstances surrounding the Edmonton Oilers and Michael Nylander.

On Sunday, July 1, 2007, Kevin Lowe, Oilers General Manager, and Mr. Mike Gillis, Certified Agent for Michael Nylander, negotiated and agreed to a multi-year NHL Standard Players Contract, starting in 2007/08. Mr. Gillis confirmed same to the Oilers in writing.

The Oilers then proceeded with preparations to announce Mr. Nylander’s
contract agreement on July 2, and concurrently continued with the process of
negotiating with other free agents based upon Mr. Nylander being an important roster ingredient for the future.

However, while the Oilers were expecting the returned, signed agreements from Mr. Nylander and Mr. Gillis, the Oilers discovered through public announcements made mid-afternoon on July 2, that Mr. Nylander had subsequently entered into a long-term contract with the Capitals.

The Oilers can find no precedent for such conduct in our history. The Oilers are examining and pursuing every course of action available in the best interest of the team and our fans. For legal reasons, the Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club will not be discussing the details any further at this time.

Wow, very interesting developments!

Canada Day: Oilers Trade their Captain!

Yes, Jason Smith has been traded to Philadelphia. That's the bad news folks. Good news is we finally get that puck-moving defenseman in Joni Pitkanen. Also included in the trade was Geoff Sanderson (who is apparently happy to be here. At least someone is!), a veteran forward whom I'm not sure is of any help for the Oilers, and a 3rd round pick in 2009. Even better news, joining Smith in Philly is pylon Joffrey Lupul. I'll make sure the door hits your useless and lazy ass on the way out! Good riddance!!

Thank god there was a big trade cause the early returns on signings were not promising! Dick Tarnstrom and Denis Grebeshkov signed one year deals. Good I guess, but that's our only free agent signings so far. That is pathetic. Are we not ponying up the dough or is it that they do not want to play in Edmonton (which I think might be more the case)? How do you fight that? Make trades.

Other news: stupid money being thrown at tier 2 players again. Briere getting an 8 year deal worth $6.5 mill a year (10 mill in the first year) from Philly. He has one good year (95 pts) and he's getting this kind of money?? Geesh. Everyone keeps saying Philly is now a contender? Yeah right. With Buffalo losing a couple big players, Ottawa owns the East now. Sorry, Philly....you might make the playoffs but contenders you are not! Is Bobby Clarke still in charge over there cause seriously....you guys are making the same mistakes as in the past. You're throwing too much money at a guy again, but also the length of the deal is ridiculous.

Rumours are flying that Ryan Smyth is being offered a 7 year deal from Colorado worth $7 mill a year. If that is accurate, holy hell. $7 mill for someone who has hit 70 or more points only ONCE! Yes, once in his entire career. His leadership or intangibles aren't worth that much!

Rafalski ends up in Detroit, Anaheim overpays for Schneider since Niedermeyer is probably retiring (what an retard), Blake in Toronto, Gomez is a Ranger, and other minor signings.

I'm still wondering what the point of the strike was? More overpays again!

Update: Gomez and Drury end up in Rangerland. Gomez gets 7.3 per year for 7 years and Drury gets 7 mill for 5 years. These are two guys who had 60 and 69 pts respectively. Briere's deal that averages 6.5 is looking like a freakin' steal right now. Sure it's front loaded with 10 mill his first year, but it averages out beautifully. And he had 95 pts last year.....35 more than Gomez who is getting $7.3/yr.

Update: Ryan Smyth ends up in Colorado for $6.25 mill/yr for 5 years. A little more reasonable BUT once again, only got 70 pts once and yet is only just under Briere's average of $6.5 and he got 95 pts last year. Strange! Another overpay!

Update: Oilers have apparently signed Michael Nylander. No details of the contract yet, but I don't mind this move. He had 83 pts last year, but was on a line with Jagr so his numbers are inflated a bit. But not a bad move on a day where money was being thrown around like it was candy and the Oil couldn't reel in any of the big guys! And Sykora has signed in Pittsburgh. How sad, I did enjoy ogling him!

Update: I think the Oilers need a winger (damn, we're deep at centre now with the signing of Nylander. Hemmer needs a winger for his line). I'll throw this out there....why not Bertuzzi? I'd love to see the Oilers go after him. He showed in the playoffs that he still has game (if healthy) and he'd probably be getable for a decent price. (Update: Bert has signed in Anaheim, damn)

Update: Capitals have signed Michael Nylander. I have no idea what the hell happened here. It's almost 5 mill a year for 4 years. For that price, I don't mind the Oilers missing out on this one. He's 34 yrs old....too old for that kind of money. So now what do the Oilers do?

Here is the link of the free agent signings.....not much left out there for the Oilers. Thus far, our only free agent signing is Dick (I'm not counting Grebeshkov). ONE PLAYER SO FAR....nice!

Saw this on Edm Journal, "Lowe said he called Smyth's agent (Don Meehan) first thing Sunday morning to put in Edmonton's bid. Lowe never received a call back." All I have to say, fuck you Smyth. You refused to sign a deal for damn good money in Edm so the Oilers had to trade you, and you wouldn't even have the decency to call back? I'm happy to get the chance to boo your money-grubbing ass 4 times this year. I hope to see you in the playoffs too so I can boo some more. Ass!!

Make Room for the Moose!

The Moose is in the Hall of Fame. No surprise there. Surprising is who will be joining him this year as far as I'm concerned. All first year selections as well (Scott Stevens, Ron Francis and Al MacInnis). I was hoping Glenn Anderson would finally make his way into the Hall after being snubbed the past couple years, but once again, he is snubbed. Al MacInnis gets into the Hall? On his first attempt even? Hell, I'd pick Larionov ahead of him. Actually, I'd pick Anderson and Larionov ahead of Stevens.

Anyways, I'll bash the selection committee another time. Let's all celebrate Mark Messier's selection into the Hall of Fame. As my favorite player, I couldn't be happier to see him in the Hall. Keep those elbows up Mess!!!

With the salary cap being projected between $48 - 50 million, I can't help but question the point of the strike. In two short years, the cap will rise about ten million. Yeah, revenue is going up because teams are increasing ticket prices by 20% (hello Oilers last year. It's going up about 7% this upcoming season) so you get a inflated sense of real revenue. More people are not going to games, more people are not spending money on hockey.....you have the same or maybe fewer spending more person than before. You have empty arenas in many of the American teams. You have the Canadian teams carrying this league yet they are shit on by the NHL at every opportunity. It's all about this so-called American market.

Free agency starts on Sunday and we'll see once again players being paid way too much. Teams like Edmonton are once again back to struggling to compete. We have a team who will never spend the cap, and this has been argued many times. Whether they won't or can't, I don't know. I do know they made money last year during the Cup run, but once again, people forget they didn't get to keep all of it. It's this wonderful thing called revenue-sharing. Our Cup run, let's estimate it at $10 million, did not go all to the Oilers. A portion went to support the shit teams in Nashville, Atlanta and Columbus.

So bring on the greedy players and the stupid owners who will shell out money to every Tom, Dick and Harry (hello Rangers, hello Philly, hello basically all American teams.....).

T minus 4 days until free agency.....4 days until the Oilers come up short again and again. I can't see them making a splash. Part of me does not want them overpaying, and other part wants them to get in there. I guess it depends who they're throwing money at? We'll see.

Pull the Trigger

Okay Kevin, now is the time to pull the trigger. Make a deal, do something...anything. The draft is few hours away, and deals are already floating around. The Maple Leaves, yes them, actually made a fantastic deal. They snagged Toskala from SJ for three draft picks...hello, don't we have draft picks? Not that I don't love Roli, but he's going to be useless within two years so why not grab a youngster?? Anyways, here's hoping the Oilers manage to pull something off!!! And if you're not going to pull the trigger on a trade, then turn the gun on yourself KLowe!

UPDATE: No big deals from draft day for our Oilers. The only news: passing on Cherepanov and Esposito not once, but twice. They ended up with the Rangers and Penquins respectively at picks 17 and 20. Yes, the two best prospects in this draft were passed repeatedly....and ended up in two big markets. I'm shocked the Oilers would pass on them....I don't care what the risks were but with the talent of these players, in particularly Cherepanov, how can you pass??

Blow it out your ear Donald

Well it's over, the Ducks won. I personally hate all ducks, Donald included. What went wrong? The Senators did not play all that great. Simple. They didn't choke. They just didn't play the way they did in the first three rounds. Was that in reaction to the magical play of the Ducks? NO! This was a series that was not won by the Ducks, but lost by the Sens. They just didn't seem to have anything left in the tank (it was a long season for them, moreso than the Ducks considering the mountain they had to climb earlier in the season).

So screw you Chrissy, screw you Niedermeyer, and yup, screw you Selanne. I hope you all get a good case of herpes. The gift that keeps on giving!!!

Let's get back to our beloved Oilers. The draft is several weeks away, free agency is right after that and the next month will be huge for our team. Who will they sign (if anyone) and who will they trade for? How much will the EIG put up for the payroll (hell, what will the cap be this fall)? Lots of questions.

Memo to Kevin Lowe: last chance buddy. Get things done please. That means one offensive stud on defense and a huge talent up front. Minimum requirements.....plus probably another defenseman (defensive) and possible second line forward.

Rumble in the Jungle - The Finals Begin....

The Stanley Cup finals begin on Monday. Yes, it's been almost a week since the Wings-Ducks series was over. Yes, the NHL is on their knees to American television coverage. They want games on Saturday but this Saturday, there is some dumbass ice show in Anaheim so the league basically pushed the series back days to accommodate NBC who will be showing games 3-7 (baring of course any horse races).

The Stanley Cup is coming home. Yes, I am predicting an Ottawa Senators victory. I am 13-1 in my playoff predictions, and yes that also means I'm brilliant. It also means I'm cheering for Comrie over Pronger. I'm not really cheering for baby Mike, cause he's not an integral part of the Sens team. Yes, his name will be on the Cup but big freakin' deal. It's better to have his name than Chrissy's name on the Cup. Priorities folks....

So yes Ottawa will win the Cup. Sure, I am biased against the Mighty Dicks but I truly believe Ottawa is a better team. Anyone who will pick the Dicks will say they have more than one line of scoring. But Ottawa has been getting scoring throughout their lineup and sure, they've depended heavily on the Heatley-Alfredsson-Spezza line but that's a helleva line. There is no stopping them. Plus Emery is heads above Giguere, who is a total headcase. It'll be easy to get him off his game. In addition, he really hasn't been spectacular. His team in front of him has been carrying him. So Ottawa's top line and goalie will win this series in 5 games. Yes I'm staying with Ottawa and 5 games. I've called Sens in 5 each round and that shall not change!

GO SENS!! All of Canada is behind you (okay Toronto isn't but who gives a shit about them? They're just a bunch of self-indulgent arrogant pansies who won't support Canada's team. Fuck em).

GO SENS!!